Earth Day cleanup events set

SANDPOINT — People across the world will celebrate Earth Day on April 22 by cleaning up their local communities.

As is tradition, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper and the city of Sandpoint will team up to host a cleanup of the shoreline along the Sand Creek corridor and City Beach on Sunday.

"The cleanup is a really great way to celebrate Earth Day here locally," said Shannon Williamson, LPOW executive director. "(LPOW) was founded in 2009 and, to the best of my recollection, we have been doing a cleanup every year since. It's been a great way to get the whole family out into nature, enjoying the sunshine — hopefully — and walking along our beach paths and using a little bit of elbow grease to help clean up our local beaches and protect our waters from pollution."

Parks and Recreation staff keep City Beach tidied up, Williamson said, so volunteers in that area will typically find what she called "micro-trash," which includes small items such as cigarette butts and other small debris. Though small, the trash can "easily get into the water and pose a danger to the waterfowl," she said.

Along the shore of Sand Creek, she said, volunteers have found tires, screen doors, and last year, the largest item that was pulled out of the water was a bicycle.

"It's almost like a scavenger hunt — you never know what you are going to come across," Williamson said, adding that some of the larger items can be difficult to remove. "But that is why we love it when we have a lot of folks come out. Usually if it's sunny we have a great turnout and people kind of work as a team when they find something that is interesting and a challenge. I can always count on our volunteers."

The cleanup will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Sunday. Local businesses, community organizations and area residents are encouraged to pitch in with this pre-summer cleaning effort. Interested participants will meet at the City Beach boat launch. Refreshments, trash bags and gloves will be provided. It is a rain or shine event, Williamson said, so volunteers should bring boots and other rain gear if needed.

Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper is a member organization of the Waterkeeper Alliance and is one of over 300 Waterkeepers protecting rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on six continents. LPOW’s mission is to keep Lake Pend Oreille and its associated waterways swimmable, fishable and drinkable for future generations.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.